Ellen White predicted that a satanic new
movement, a new organization, would be formed "among" or within
the SDA church, Selected Messages, vol. 1, 204, 205. She said the new
movement would "remove God," so we should have no problem with
calling the new movement satanic! She prophesied a number of other apostasies
the new movement would commit, and every one of those thirteen specifications
has been fulfilled. Ellen White scores 1000 percent correct on this prophecy!
Who did she copy that from?! What other church could fulfill Revelation 3:9?
If Adventism constituted Philadelphia in 1844,
and I believe it did, then God also predicted this satanic new movement as
associated with Philadelphia, or Seventh-day Adventism, in Revelation 3:9. The
very fact that this new movement has formed "among" professing
Seventh-day Adventists, is proof that they were at one time the true church,
and that a true remnant will come out of that church to constitute the church
triumphant, Isaiah 37:31, 32, while the professing, imposter Seventh-day
Adventist church would be brought down to hell:
"And thou, Capernaum [Seventh-day
Adventists, who have had great light], which art exalted unto heaven [in point
of privilege], shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which
have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this
day. But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom
in the day of judgment, than for thee." E. G. White, Review and Herald
Articles, vol. 3, p. 69, col. 3.
We DID NOT add the bracketed portions of the
above statement. It is quoted just as it was written by Ellen White. Please not
that Ellen White compares the SDA church to a corporate city Capernaum. By this
designation she can only mean the entire corporate church and not
"individuals" in that church. Ezekiel 5:1-4, agrees with Ellen
White's prognosis, wherein three-thirds, or the entire church is destroyed
after a remnant escapes. Add to this the fact that Ellen White says that
another literal fulfillment of Ezekiel 9 will begin at His Sanctuary-- the
people who had great light, Testimonies, vol. 5, 211, and you
have a serious situation. You have a modern-day counterpart to the destruction
of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., and indeed, Ellen White said that catastrophe was a
prefigure type of another to come, The Great Controversy, 1911 edition,
p. 25.
Revelation 3:9, 10, are two of the most
interesting verses of all Scripture and they have been successfully relegated
to the halls of obscurity by the ecclesiastical authorities over the ages, and
particularly by those of this age. A little reflection and spiritual
discernment will make the reason for that obscurity all too plain to see. What
church movement is going to confess that it is the Synagogue of Satan?! Omega
Ministries has been dealing with these verses for over ten years now, and we
have never seen any other ministry explain these important verses. Here are
those verses:
"Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which
say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come
and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. Because thou
hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of
temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon
the earth." Revelation 3:9, 10.
The real meaning of these passages is that some
imposter movement would claim to be the church triumphant, but would not be,
and would indeed be the Synagogue of Satan! Both, Ellen and James White said that
Philadelphia, to whom the two verses are written, is the church triumphant. So
there will be two different claimants to the church triumphant, or two
different factions claiming to be Seventh-day Adventists, while one of those
claimants is an imposter.
To assess whether or not we are interpreting
aright here, let us go back to the original fulfillment of this Scripture in
the time of Christ. There were two churches, two "Jerusalems" if you
will, claiming to be the church triumphant: the apostate, organized Jewish
church, and another church that had its headquarters also based at Jerusalem,
namely the church of Jesus Christ, His disciples and converts. It is important
to realize that the apostate Jewish church was never referred to as Babylon,
but as Jerusalem, ie. Ezekiel 9!
Philadelphia was the perfect church, the church
triumphant, because God had no criticism or reproofs for that church,
Revelation 3:7-13. Then there was the Jewish organized church that claimed to
be the "chosen people" of God. Two different factions claiming to be
"chosen people" of God, and one was an imposter and was indeed the
Synagogue of Satan.
Ellen White said that apostate Jerusalem and its
destruction (Ezekiel 9), was a prefigure or a type, The Great Controversy, 25.
She also said that Ezekiel 9 would again be literally fulfilled, which of
course agrees with her "prefigure" "type" statement. This
would mean that a very similar anti-typical situation would exist at the
end-time--with two claimants to being the chosen church triumphant. The only
two factions today who could directly parallel those two churches are apostate
Seventh-day Adventism and true Historic Adventism.
The first big clue as to the identity of the
imposter claimant is the fact that the Laodicean Seventh-day Adventist church
admits to being Laodicean, and goes an important step further. It states that
Laodicea is the church that goes through to the Kingdom, or the church triumphant.
Thank God for Ellen White! Scripture and Ellen White agree. God said in
Revelation 3:10, quoted above, that Philadelphia, THE PERFECT CHURCH, would be
around to be protected through the worst time of trouble to ever come upon the
entire world. That time would, of course, be the time of Jacob's trouble. So
God Himself says that Philadelphia will be around and be kept through that time
of trouble as the church triumphant. Ellen White labeled the Laodicean church
as the foolish virgin church:
"The state of the Church represented by the foolish
virgins, is also spoken of as the Laodicean state." E. G. White, Review
and Herald Articles, Vol. 2, 420.
"Because thou [Philadelphia] hast kept the
word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation,
which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the
earth." Revelation 3:10.
It would seem reasonable to assume that if God
tells Philadelphia that she will be kept from the hour of temptation, which
shall come upon all the world, [The time of Trouble at the end-time] she must
be around to be kept through that time.
Isaiah 62:1-5 especially, identify Zion, the
subject of the chapter [see verse 1] as the bride of Jesus Christ. Isaiah 62:5
says:
"For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons
marry thee; and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God
rejoice over thee."
We just learned from God's Holy Word that He
marries Zion, as His bride. Who is Zion? Hebrews 12:22, 24, answers this
crucial question:
"But ye are come unto mount Sion [Zion], and unto the city
of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of
angels, To the general assembly and CHURCH OF THE FIRSTBORN
[FIRSTFRUITS--Rev. 14:4], which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge
of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect." Hebrews 12:22, 23.
We learn from the above scripture that Zion is
the heavenly Jerusalem and the general assembly and Church of the Firstborn
which are written in heaven. Dose Ellen White agree with this interpretation of
Zion?
"The marriage represents the reception by
Christ of His kingdom. The Holy City, the New Jerusalem, which is the capital
and representative of the kingdom, is called the 'the bride, the Lamb's
wife.'" E. G. White, The Great Controversy, 426, 1911 edition.
The Holy City, the New Jerusalem, the capital
and REPRESENTATIVE of the kingdom, is called "the bride, the Lamb's
wife." So Zion is more than a CAPITAL and a city, she is also the bride,
the Lamb's wife, just as Isaiah 62, says that Zion will be married. Why would
Christ marry just a city? That would not make sense would it? Of course not. It
says that Zion is the capital, the representative and the bride of the heavenly
kingdom of God. Remember that Isaiah 62:2, says that Zion (verse 1) shalt be
called by a new name. What new name? Let's go to Revelation 3:12, for the
answer:
"...I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name
of the city of my God, which is NEW JERUSALEM, which cometh down out of heaven
from my God: and I will write upon him my new name." Rev. 3:12.
We know for sure that Philadelphia is the final
remnant generation, because she is told that she will be kept or protected from
the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that
dwell upon the earth:
"Because thou [Philadelphia in context] has kept the word
of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall
come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth."
Revelation 3:10. Also, the Synagogue of Satan, will worship before thy
[Philadelphia's feet]. Also, she is made a pillar in the Temple of God, because
she was the only perfect church in the sense that the 144,000 are perfect
before God, Revelation 14:1-4. Philadelphia is not faulted on one point. Though
she has but little strength, she has "kept my word, and hast not denied my
name," Rev. 3:8.
The Remnant as the last generation of men
"The woman is a symbol of the church, and the remnant of
the church represents the Christians of the last generation of men, living just
prior to the second advent. The dragon makes war on these for keeping the
commandments of God, Sabbath and all, and having the testimony of Jesus Christ,
which, according to the inspired definition of chap. xix, 10, 'is the spirit of
prophecy.' Here, then, are the causes of the dragon's warfare upon the remnant.
They teach the observance of the ten commandments, and the revival of the
gifts, and acknowledge the gift of prophecy among them. When the Devil got one
foot upon the fourth commandment, and the other upon the gifts planted in the
Christian church b Jesus Christ, then his satanic majesty was filled with
revengeful delight. But when the remnant, whom God designs to fit for
translation to Heaven without seeing death, 'ask for the old paths, where is
the good way, and walk therein,' then the dragon is wroth, and makes war on
them.
"The true spirit of the dragonic host, which is already being somewhat
developed, is vividly described in Isa. xxx, 8-13, as being manifested just
prior to the sudden destruction of those who hate the pure testimony, and love
smooth and deceitful things." E. G. White, Spiritual Gifts, Vol.
III, 26, 27.
Laodicea makes the tragic mistake of believing
that the seven churches of Revelation 2 and 3, are literal, successive
churches, rather than eras of the church in which various churches met the
description of the the various eras. For example, there were many churches that
comprised each era of the church. All of the messages, however, applied to each
era, as there were overlappings of all the conditions of every message in every
era.
Ellen White corroborates this assessment by
saying that all of the messages (plural) apply to every church:
"The names of the seven churches are symbolic of the church
in different periods of the Christian Era. The number 7 indicates completeness,
and is symbolic of the fact that the messages (plural) extend to the end of
time, while the symbols used reveal the condition of the church at different periods
(eras) in the history of the world." E. G. White, Acts of the Apostles,
585.
"The state of the Church represented by the foolish
virgins, is also spoken of as the Laodicean state." E.G. White, Review and
Herald Articles, vol. 2, 420, col. 1.
"The church [Zion in context] may appear as about to fall
[when the bride Zion has to flee to the wilderness], but it does not fall. It
remains [the only church that remains is Zion, the 144,000], while sinners IN
ZION will be sifted out--the chaff separated from the precious wheat. This is a
terrible ordeal, but nevertheless it must take place. None but those who have
been overcoming by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony will
be found with the LOYAL AND TRUE, WITHOUT SPOT OR STAIN OF SIN, WITHOUT GUILE
IN THEIR MOUTHS [the 144,000 Revelation 14:1-5.].... The REMNANT that purify
their souls by obeying the truth gather strength from the trying process,
exhibiting the beauty of holiness amid the surrounding apostasy." E.G
White, Letter B -- 55 -- 1886, pp. 6, 7.
This describes Zion, the church triumphant, the
faithful remnant final generation, the 144,000, from which the sinners are
shaken. Sinners do not have to ever be members of Zion in order to be shaken
out of Zion, any more than the fallen churches of 1844, had to be members of
Philadelphia Zion, in order to be shaken out of the heavenly Zion Kingdom church,
by rejecting Zion's message. The entire world will not have to be a member of
the heavenly Jerusalem, in order to be shaken out of that kingdom by the loud
cry of the bride of Jesus Christ.
The tares are gathered into the midst of apostate Jerusalem, Ezekiel 22:17-31.
This is precisely what happened in the type in 70 A.D. Ellen White said that
was a prefigure which is a type! Zion is the remnant that go forth OUT OF
APOSTATE JERUSALEM, Isaiah 37:31, 32. This remnant is also the Third Angel who
selects, seals and binds the wheat for the heavenly garner:
"I then saw the THIRD ANGEL. Said my accompanying angel,
'Fearful is his work. Awful is his mission. He is the angel that is to select
the wheat from the tares, and seal, or bind, the wheat for the heavenly
garner." E.G. White, Early Writings, 118.
"The angel represented in prophecy as delivering this
message, symbolizes a class of faithful men, who obedient to the promptings of
God's Spirit and the teachings of his word, proclaim this warning to the
inhabitants of earth. This message WAS NOT to be committed to the religious
leaders of the people." E.. White, The Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 4, 199,
200.
"The third angel's message will not be comprehended, the
light which will lighten the earth with its glory will be called a false light,
by those who refuse to walk in its advancing glory." E.G. White, Review
and Herald, 5-27-1890, p. 321.
~rwb